British Airways

British Airways is a major player in the global aviation industry.

PR Manager Grounded
An investigation by the U.K. government's Office and Fair Trading and the U.S. Department of Justice into allegations of price-fixing in the airline industry has resulted in British Airways (BA) suspending its head of communications, Iain Burns. Burns later resigned. BA has also suspended commercial director, Martin George, who Burns reported to, after the government agencies were alerted by Virgin Atlantic of approaches to agree on fuel surcharges with other trans-Atlantic airlines. The Independent reports that BA is "seeking to distance its top management from the price-fixing investigation the airline is facing by pinning the blame on the unauthorised actions of individual executives." A number of lawsuits against BA have already been filed.

Personnel

 * Julia Simpson, head of corporate communications

Former Staff

 * Iain Burns

Contact details
Web: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/companyinfo/public/en_gb/?source=TOP_companyinfo

Other SourceWatch resources

 * Crisis management
 * John Rishton - former CFO